Many people are familiar with Spain’s Golden Visa. If you aren’t the idea is simple: if you make a 500k€ or more investment in Spanish property, you and your family are entitled to a Spanish Golden Visa. What fewer people know is that there are other visas that you can get under Spain’s Golden Visa law. One of them is the Spanish Entrepreneur Visa. Read this post to learn all about it.
The benefits of the Spanish Entrepreneur Visa
Low threshold of required funds
The Spanish Entrepreneur Visa is part of Spain’s Golden Visa scheme. This is a law called: “Law 14/2013 on Support of the Entrepreneurship and its Internationalization.” Introduced in September, 2013, the goal of the law was to encourage international investment in Spain. Unlike the real estate investment visa, whose intention is to stimulate Spanish real estate investment, the Spanish Entrepreneur Visa aims to attract entrepreneurial talent to the country. Its main advantage over the more well known real estate investment Golden Visa is that it does not require a large capital investment. In fact, if you apply for the visa in Spain, it only requires that you demonstrate you have sufficient financial resources to support yourself for two years. This may seem like a lot, but in reality it is quite low. The Spanish government has a number called the Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples (IPRM), which it considers sufficient monthly income to survive. In 2022, this number is 579.02€, meaning you only have to prove you have 12,908.16€ in your bank account to be approved.
If you apply for your visa abroad, you apply through the Spanish Consulate in your city of residence. Although many Consulates appear to require a larger amount of funds (for example, the Los Angeles Consulate requires you to demonstrate you have twice the monthly IRPM to be approved), this is actually not the case. This is because Spanish Entrepreneur Visas that are awarded outside of Spain are only given one year visas, as opposed to the two year residence permits granted in Spain, so the funds you must demonstrate are the same, or even less.
Many people think that they have to demonstrate a large amount of seed capital to be approved for a Spanish Entrepreneur Visa. This is actually not true. You only have to demonstrate that you have an idea to start a business that is innovative and is of economic interest to Spain. The idea is that obtaining a Spanish Entrepreneur Visa will give you time to move to Spain, raise the funds and start the business.
Fast processing time
The Spanish bureaucracy does function, but it is notoriously slow. This is even more true in our post covid-19 world. Some visas can take months, and even years, to process. However, the Spanish Entrepreneur Visa is different. The Spanish immigration authorities are, at least theoretically, legally obliged to process a Spanish Entrepreneur Visa in 10 days and a residence permit in 20 days. If they don’t give you a result during this time, they have to approve your application.
You can bring your family members with you
Like the Golden Visa that is awarded for real estate investment in Spain, you can bring your family members with you when you come to Spain. This includes your spouse, significant other, dependent children and dependent parents.
You don’t have to actually reside in Spain full-time
Many Spanish visas require you to remain in the Schengen Area for at least half the year. Visas awarded under Spain’s Golden Visa Program don’t require this- you can spend as much, or as little, time in the country as you wish. However, many of our clients get settled in their beautiful new apartments, accustomed to the relaxed Spanish lifestyle and beautiful weather and decide they don’t want to leave at all!
Trickier things about the Spanish Entrepreneur Visa
The Spanish Entrepreneur Visa requires you to have an innovative idea
The main setback, for many people, is that you have to have an innovative business idea to be approved for a Spanish Entrepreneur Visa. That said, most ideas in the areas of technology, renewable resources, biotech, aerospace and energy do get approved because they are considered of strategic interest to the Spain. You also have to know something about how to write a business plan.
You have to write a business plan
You must write a business plan, and create financial projections, fully detailing your idea. Although not hard to do, it does take time. However, if you have an innovative business idea, you can always pay for someone to write the plan for you.
Which is better: The Spanish Entrepreneur Visa or a Spanish Golden Visa attained through real estate investment?
Neither- they are just different. The Entrepreneur Visa is better for those that don’t have a lot of assets or financial capital, but have an innovative idea and know how to make money. The Spanish Golden Visa attained through real estate investment is better if you have the money to purchase an apartment in Spain and want to live here, but spend your time enjoying the lifestyle, rather than working.
